Apparatus for making non-woven cloth



2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Oct. 5, 1955 lll III. IIIIIIII lllllll Il IlApril 1, 1958 F. w. HARTsTElN APPARATUS FOR MAKING NoN-WOVEN CLOTH Filedoct. 5, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 n U E:

INVENToR. Y W52 w. #AP75 rE//v United States Patent APPARATUS FR MAKNGNGN-WOVEN CLOTH Fred W. Hnrtstein, Summit, N. l'.

Application October 5, 1955, Serial No. 538,706

3 Claims. (Cl. 154-1.7)

My invention is an apparatus for producing cloth that can be used for avariety of purposes; for example, in making a floor rug comprising abody or piece of textile material having piles or tufts of yarn on theupper or wearing surface thereof. Such rugs are commonly known aschenille rugs.

The chief object of this -invention is to provide an apparatus formaking a sheet of cloth that is less costly than fabric woven on a loomand having warp and weft threads crossing and interlaced with oneanother throughout.

Another object is to provide means by which a sheet of cloth can bewrought with layers of cord or yarn that are not interwoven, butsuperposed instead; the layers being lirmly secured to one another, andthe lines of yarn, cord or thread occupying the entire area of thesheet; so that the sheet -is continuous over its whole extent, andvirtually without interstices or crevices opening through both faces ofthe cloth.

A further object is to devise means for turning out a sheet of clothhaving the above mentioned design and capable of being formed andfinished far more rapidly than cloth obtained from a loom with a shuttleoperating in the usual well-known manner.

An additional object is to provide a mechanical unit for manufacturing asheet of cloth, at a rate of production that is independent of the widthof the cloth, so that perfectly made cloth of relatively great width canbe obtained as quickly and easily as cloth having smaller widths.

Still another object is to provide a means for manufacturing cloth withthe above-mentioned characteristics that will engage and securely holdpiles or tufts of yarn when the cloth is employed in rug making andserves as the body thereof.

lt is also an object to provide apparatus for making cloth whichcontains yarn or cord in layers that are superposed and securely joinedtogether and not interwoven, and which is well adapted for bagging andwrapping uses.

The foregoiru7 and other objects and advantages are made clear in thefollowing specification and the novel features of the invention aredefined in the claims. Un the drawings, some embodiments of theinvent-ion are illustrated, but numerous changes can be adopted indetails of shape, size and arrangement of parts without deviation fromthe general plan in which the invention resides.

in the drawings:

Figure l is an end elevation of apparatus in which my invention isincorporate-d;

Figure 2 is a side elevation, viewed from the left in Figure l;

Figure 3 is a top plan thereof;

Figure 4 presents a structural detail;

Figure 5 shows diagrammatically the structure of the cloth as it iswrought in accordance with my invention;

fb (Ll Figure 6 is `an end view of another form of the invention.

Figures 1 and 2 show a combination of rollers 1, 2, 3 and 4 disposed todraw and press cloth between them. The rollers are mounted in anysuitable framework 0r supports and one or more, such as rollers 2 :and3, 'can be rotated by connections to a source of power. From a number ofcops 5 lines of yarn 6 are pulled between rollers 1. and 2, passingfirst into a tank 7 containing adhesive and mounting properly locatedidle rolls d and 9 which guide the threads into the tank. From othercops 10, lines of yarn l1 are drawn between the rollers 1 and 2, andfrom -a third set of cops 12 additional lines of thread 13 are pulledbetween thev rollers 2 and 3. The threads or yarn. 1i and 13 aresuperposed upon oppositefaces of the yarn 6, and the three layers ofyarn are finally passed between the rollers 3 and 4 and delivered lbythe apparatus as a finished sheet. The threads 4 6 are all of the samesize and so are threads 11 and 13, but if `desired the uniform threads11 may be of a thickness -diterent from the thickness of the threads 13,andi the threads 1i and 13 may be ofa thickness different;

fromthe thickness 'of the threads 6.

The'cops 5, 1? and 12 are the usual conical balls;`

mounted on fixed studs and presenting their smaller ends; towards therollers, and spirally wound so that the yarn; can easily be pulled off.In textile machinery such cops.' are usually on frames which support alarge number of. cops in tiers or rows.

The rolls are heated during the operation to a tem-4 perature of, say,250 degrees F., for example, and the heating connections (not shown) areof the usual type: employed for heating rollers in such machines. Butheat-A ingunder all conditions is not necessary. The lines of yarn 6each pass through the apparatus in a single plane and areA straight,kexcept as they are curved in passing overthe 'cylindrical `surfaces ofthe rollers, but the lines of yarn 11 andv 13 arerepeatedly -bent fromside to side in anundulatory or zigzag pattern, and cross the lines 6and make contact at a multitude of points. All three layers of yarn arepressed together by the rollers, and .are joined Iat all points ofcontact by the adhesive on the lines `ofyarn 6. The zigzagportions areindicated at 1d, connected by 'bends 15.

The lines of yarn 11 and 13 are pulled sidewise in one direction andthen in the opposite direction by guide bars 16 and 17, parallel to therollers and having guide slots i8 in the upper edge. These two layers ofyarn lie, each layer in theV slots' 18 of one of the guide bars, whichare moved first to the right and then reversely by suitable means suchas cranks 19 and 20 and connecting rods pinned to the bars 16' and 17,and as the barsare reciprocated and in shuttle-wise movement, the yarnsv11 and 13 are pulled to one endandthen to the other end of theirdirection of travel. yThe guide bars are placed. atvthelcorrect distancefromY the rolls, and the slots 18 have the necessary outlineand depth togivethe desired result. When the bars 'are at one .end of their range ofmovement, the lines of yarn 11 and 13 are so held that they `traveldiagonally in one direction asvthey'are drawn between the rollers, andwhenthe bars are at the oppositeend of their range, the same yarns areheld bythe guide slots 18 so that they are drawn intothe rollers in adiagonal direction that crosses the aforesaid ydiagonal direction. Thebends 15 in the zigzag pattern of the yarns 11 and 13 Yare thus im posedon these yarns asthe barsreach each end of 'their respective movementsand the bends are placed in the portions of said yarns which happenftobebetween the rolls at the instant when the bars reverse-their motion.

In order toreffect the required movement of the ybars 16 and 17, theyare connected torotarycranksflQand 20, respectively, by rods 271,:anvd22, respectively. 'These 3 rods are joined to the pins of the cranks atone end and to the bars 16 and 17 at the other end by pins 23 in slots24 in the adjacent extremities of the bars 16 and 17. As the cranksrevolve and the bar 16 is pushed to the right, for example, with theparts in the positions shown in Figure 2, the connecting bar 21 thrustsagainst one end of the slot 24 in the bar 16 till this bar reaches theend of its travel and is about to move in the opposite direction. Butthe crank 19 must rst pull the rod 21 back far enough for its pin 23 toengage the bar 16 at the other end of the slot 24 therein; and thus fora brief interval the bar 16 is motionless. Then the crank 19 and rod 21begin to pull the bar 16 on its return movement, and during saidinterval the bends joining the zigzag portions 14 are formed. As soon asthe pin 23 on the rod 21 reaches the other end ot the slot 24 in the bar16, said bar is actuated to reverse the diagonal direction of thethreads 11 passing to rollers from the slots 18 of the bar 16. A similaroperation is performed by the other crank in the movement of the bar 17.The cranks, connecting rods and slots 23 are so dimensioned and thecranks are rotated at such speed that the diagonal direction of thethreads 11 and 13 is changed as quickly as is necessary between themomentary stops of the bars 16 and 17 at each end of their range oftravel.

The two cranks are mounted on the same shaft as indicated at on Figure3, or they may be on diierent shafts connected to turn at the samespeeds, and the cranks will be angularly adjusted with reference totheir common axis of rotation so that the bars 17 for the yarn 13 willcause the bends 15 in the zigzag lines of yarn 13 on the layer of yarn 6to fall always in the spaces between the bends 15 of the yarn 11 on theopposite face of the middle layer of yarn 6. The bars 16 and 17 beingparallel to the rollers, these bars 16 and 17 are always at the samedistance from the points at which the yarns 11 and 13 meet the yarn 6between the rollers 1 and 2 and 2 and 3. The bends 15 may be rounded orpeaked and the length o the diagonal portions 14 between the bends willvary according to the speed of rotation of the rollers 2 and 3, for agiven speed of the shaft 25. Other connections to obtain properreciprocation of the bars 16 and 17 may be used.

Figure 5 shows the relative positions of the yarn 6, 11 and 13 in thethree layers of the completed sheet. The yarn 6 runs lengthwise throughthe cloth without being bent from side to side, and the layer 11 on oneface of the layer of yarn 6 has the undulatory or diagonal portions 14with bends 15 along and over the whole layer,

from side to side and end to end, and the yarn 13 on the other face ofthe middle layer has the similar portions 14 with bends 15 that liebetween the bends of the yarn 11. The three layers of threads cross oneanother at so many places and the threads in the two outer layers are soclose together over the entire extent of the cloth sheet that the clothhas no orifices through it, and any spaces in the yarn 11 between bends15 thereof are overlaid by the yarn 13 and the bends 15 therein.

The threads 11 and. 13 must be kept taut at all times and means forkeeping them under constant tension are disposed between the bars 16 and17 and the cops 10 and 12. Such means can have the form of a bar 29extending across each set of threads 11 and 13 and pressing thereon.Each bar has transversely bent portions 30 at its ends and terminalportions 31 parallel to the length of the bar, and the portions 31 aremounted in fixed bearings 32 adjacent the lines of threads 11 and 13.Springs 33 axed to the bearings at one end engage the portions 30 so asto exert pressure on the bars, and hold the threads 11 and 13 taut. Thelength of the diagonal portions 14 of these threads between the adjacentbends 15 is greater than the distance of the bars 16 and 17 from thepoints where the threads 11 and 13 make contact with the rolls 2 and 3.Hence, if the tension members 29 were omitted, the portions 14 of theyarn 11 and 13 between the bars 16 and 17 and the rollers would beslackened as the bars go through the mid-points of their travel andportions of the threads 11 between the bends 15 and similar portions ofthe threads 13 would overlap and make cloth uneven and lumpy in manyplaces. The devices 29 prevent slackness in the yarn 11 and 13 and thecloth is smooth and hat throughout.

The bars 16 and 17 are supported, for instance, by grooved wheels 34loosely mounted ou xed journals 35 under the bars. Thus friction isavoided. The number of threads 11 and 13 in each outer layer is not morethan half the number of threads 6, and the slots 18 in the guide barsare spaced at intervals of about twice the distance between adjacentthreads 6. Stationary guide members may be mounted for the threads 11and 13 between the tension bars 29 and the guide bars 16 and 17, asindicated at 36.

The apparatus can be operated many times faster than the operation of aloom, because of the short range of travel of the guide bars 16 and 17.In a loom, the shuttle carrying warp threads must travel from the oneside of a loom to the other, and the wider the cloth the more time isrequired. In the making of rugs, a single machine according to theapparatus described above can be run as fast as a chenille rug-makingmachine and deliver all the cloth that the rug-making machine requires;but when woven cloth is used in chenille rugs, a loom cannot be operatedfast enough and a number of looms must be depended upon for enough clothto supply a single rug-making unit. The cost of equipment and materialis therefore much greater.

Figure 6 shows apparatus comprising three rollers only, but the processis the same and the final product is no different from the sheetingabove described. The roller 26 has a pair of rollers 27 and 28cooperating therewith and the lines of yarn 6 are passed under theroller 27 and between it and the roller 26. The lines of yarn 11 aredrawn -between rollers 26 and 27 and laid against one face of the layerof the threads 6, and the lines of yarn 13 are passed between therollers 26 and 28 and laid on the opposite face of the middle layer ofyarn 6. The layers of yarn 11 and 13 are put on in a zigzag orundulatory pattern as before, and guide bars with slots are employed inthe mechanism to guide the yarn 11 and 13 diagonally in one directionand then diagonally in another direction to be laid on the middle layer6 as explained in connection with Figure 3. The cranks 19 and Ztl, guidemembers 35 and tension members 29 are also included. The yarn 6 ispassed from the cops bearing it through adhesive in a tank 7.

As already stated, a sheet of cloth turned out in accordance with thisinvention can be utilized for many purposes and a single apparatus willoperate much faster and deliver an output equal to the yardage of manylooms, thus cutting down greatly on the cost of equipment and thematerial yielded by it.

Another advantage gained in making cloth as above described is thatcloth of greater or less width can be made with ease and at the samerate of speed for the rollers, and on the same apparatus, and in allwidths, the tension on all threads being uniform. In contrast, a loommust operate more or less slowly when turning out Very wide cloth,because the shuttle must travel farther, and at the same time thetension on the transverse weft threads is increased.

The apparatus herein set forth can also be used to produce cloth in twolayers only for any of the uses above mentioned. This kind of cloth maycontain only two groups of lines of yarn, both having zigzag portions,or one with zigzag portions and the other group or layer containinglines of yarn without such portions and bends. The apparatus willoperate eciently to superpose lines of yarn in two layers or groups aswell as with yarn for three layers as above set forth; as one set ofcops 10 or 12 will then simply be omitted.

The cranks 19 and 26 may also be mounted so as to operate at differentspeeds, depending on the nature of the yarn. In such a case the bars 16and 17 will cause the diagonal portions 14 of the lines of yarn 11, forexample, to be longer or shorter than the portions 14 of the lines ofyarn 13 in the layer on the other face ot the middle layer containingthe lines of yarn 6.

Also, with fewer lines of yarn 11 and 13, cloth can be made with spacesbetween the diagonal portions 14 of the zigzag yarn of each outer layer.The cloth will then be like mesh cloth with open spaces, and can beutilized as netting and as cloth for stiening or reinforcing. Cloth ofthis kind with two layers only can be made and delivered as abovedescribed.

With reference to Figure 5, it is to be understood that the two layersmade up of the yarns 11 and 13 are shown as if displaced sidewise inopposite directions from the middle layer of the cords 6. In theiinished cloth the zigzag yarns 11 lie on one face of the middle layerand the zigzag yarns 13 lie on the opposite face of the middle layer asindicated in Figure 2.

Having described my invention, what I believe to be new is:

1. Apparatus for making cloth comprising a roller, and a pair ofadditional roller members spaced apart and in cooperating relation withthe first-named member and parallel thereto, and means for guidingthreads between each additional roller and the first-named roller, saidmeans including a guide bar adjacent each additional roller, andparallel thereto, and means for reciprocating said bars in alternation.

2. Apparatus for making cloth comprising' a roller, and a pair ofadditional roller members spaced apart and in cooperating relation withthe first-named member and parallel thereto, and means for guidingthreads between each additional roller and the first-named roller, saidmeans including a guide bar adjacent each additional roller, andparallel thereto, and means for reciprocating said bars in alternation,said apparatus including means for preventing slackening of yarn movingbetween the inst-named rollers and the additional rollers.

3. Apparatus for making cloth comprising a roller and a pair ofadditional roller members all located in cooperative parallel relation,said rollers being arranged one above another in a vertical tier, meansfor guiding threads between the first-named roller and each additionalroller, means for guiding additional threads in one direction betweenthe first-named roller and the adjacent additional roller, and means forguiding additional threads in the opposite direction between saidadditional rollers, said means including a guide bar for each set ofadditional threads, said Abars being located at opposite sides of saidrollers, and parallel thereto.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,618,903 Ammann-Haberszich Feb. 22, 1927 2,696,243 Holland Dec. 7, 19542,704,734 Draper et al. Mar. 22, 1955 2,732,885 Van Der Hooven Ian. 31,1956 2,738,298 David et a1 Mar. 13, 1956

